BHP claims to have underpaid current and former employees across Australia for the past 13 years.
According to an assessment done by the firm, about 28,500 employees received less vacation time than they were entitled to.
Meanwhile, 400 employees did not receive increased benefits “due to an error with the employment entity.”
According to BHP, the event has been reported to authorities, and the inaccuracies would cost the corporation up to $280 million (£225 million) before taxes.
The company discovered that certain impacted employees’ leave was mistakenly deducted on Australian public holidays. As a result, they were owed an average of six days of leave.
“We apologize to all current and former employees who have been affected by these errors.” This is insufficient and falls short of the standards we demand at BHP,” Geraldine Slattery, president of BHP Australia, said.
“We are working diligently to resolve and remediate these issues as soon as possible,” she added.
In addition, the company stated that it had commissioned a study of its payroll processes. It also stated that an update on its investigations would be provided on its full-year earnings call in August.
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Untangling Australia’s Complicated Job Puzzle
BHP is the world’s largest miner, with headquarters in Melbourne.
It employs approximately 80,000 people, including contract workers, at places such as Chile’s Escondida mine, which is the world’s largest copper mine.
In addition to having its shares listed in Australia, the company was a component of the UK’s blue chip FTSE 100 index for nearly a decade.
Following investor demand to streamline its corporate structure, the corporation removed its shares from the London market in January 2022.
Supporters of the plan stated that it would make it easier for BHP to raise funds, conduct transactions, and return money to shareholders.